Mary Did You Know

Mary Did You Know?

Matthew 1:18-25 v.21 Text

Recently I found one of my old baby pictures. As I studied the little boy in the picture, I pondered about his destiny. I don’t think he had any idea of how God was going to use him. Long before Mary gave birth to her son, the prophets had foretold His destiny. His reason for being born was already known, and His accomplishments were set in stone.

Our text says, “She shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1: 21). The words of our text came from the mouth of an angel. When Joseph became aware that Mary, the one to whom he was espoused, was expecting a child, he was understandably troubled. He decided to end the betrothal. Before that decision could be made public, however, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. The angel explained that Mary’s child was not the result of infidelity but had been conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1: 18-20) and that Joseph should not be afraid to take her as his wife.

Everything we know about Joseph from Scripture suggests he was a godly man. Each time the Lord delivered a message directly to him, he obeyed without question Matthew 1:24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife.

Matthew 2:13-14

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt

Matthew 2:19-21

But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.

and Joseph was observant of the requirements of Israel’s law.

Luke 2:21-24

And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”

Luke 2:39

And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.

Luke 2:41

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.

Certainly the angel’s announcement that Mary had conceived by the Holy Spirit alerted Joseph to the messianic implications. The angel gave Joseph three important pieces of information in relation to Mary and the child she carried.

First, the angel said that Mary would “bring forth a son.” By itself this was not particularly significant, except that the angel knew the gender of the child in a time when such knowledge was unattainable before birth. Yet a male child was consistent with the miraculous nature of the conception, which pointed to the Messiah, whom the Old Testament always spoke of in masculine terms.

Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born,to us a son is given;and the government shall be upon his shoulder,and his name shall be called Wonderful

Counselor, Mighty God,Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Second, the heavenly messenger said, “Thou shalt call his name JESUS.” Jesus was not a unique name among the Jewish people. It is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, or Yeshua, a name borne by a number of people in the Bible (cf. Josh. 1: 1; I Sam. 6: 14; Hag. 1: 1).

However, the manner of naming Jesus was unique. In fact, it was so important that He be given this name that God gave this instruction independently to both Mary and Joseph.

Luke 1:31 the Angel says

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. So, there were no arguments over what to name Mary’s child (Matt. 1: 25; Luke 2: 21).